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(No ModeL) L. M. OABANA. METALLIC BASKET.

I No. 515,107. Patented Feb. 20,1894.

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ma NAYICIML LITNOGRAFHING comuuv LEON H. .OABANA, OF BUFFALO, NEYV YORK.

M ETALLIC BASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 515,107, dated February 20, 1894.

Application filed August 2, 1893. Serial No.43Z1 N m l To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEON M. OABANA, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Metallic Baskets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a metallic basket which is desirable for displaying and delivering fruit and vegetables, but which is also useful for carrying various other articles.

The object of my invention is the production of a basket of this kind which combines lightness with strength and durability and which can be manufactured at small cost.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure l is a side elevation of my improved basket. Fig; 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section of the basket, on an enlarged scale, showing the means of attaching the intermediate binding wire to the upright bars or slats of the basket. Fig. 4 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, of one of the upright bars of the basket, showing a modified construction of such attachment.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A represents the bottom of the basket, which corresponds in form to the body of the basket and is preferably constructed of wood, although it may be made of sheet metal, if desired.

B are upright metallic bars or slats forming the body of the basket and extending upward from the bottom. These bars are separated by intervening ventilating spaces as shown, and are properly bent to conform to the desired shape of the basket. In the basket represented in the drawings, the lower portion of the body is straight, while its upper portion flares or widens upward, and-the upper portions of the upright bars are bent outward accordingly. Each of these bars is formed on its inner side, near its lower end, with a horizontal depression or indentation c, and the indentations of the several bars are arranged in line and form seats in which the edge of the bottom is confined. The metallic bars are elastic and the bottom is sprung into its seat in the bars by introducing it into the upper large end of the basket and pressing it downward until its edge enters the seats, thus firmly retaining the bottom in place.

at is a metallicbinding strip or band encircling the lower indented portions of the upright bars and serving to protect the lower ends of the bars as well as to limit their outward deflection. The ends of this binding strip are secured together by a rivet or any other suitable fastening, and the strip is made concave on its inner side to fit closely against the contiguous convex portions of the upright bars, formed by indenting the latter. By thus constructing the binding strip, the same is retained in place simply by its end fastening without requiring the use of nails or other intermediate fastenings.

The upper ends of the upright bars are attached to a horizontal wire 6 extending around the top of the basket. The upright bars are secured to this top wire preferably by bending their upper portions outward around the wire in the form of an eye, as shown in the drawings.

fis an intermediate horizontal binding wire or band which surrounds the several body strips aboutinidway of their height and which serves to stiffen the bars and hold the same in place at their central portions. This binding wire is attached to the various upright bars by horizontal loops, eyes or seatsg which are arranged on the bars and through which the wire passes. These loops are preferably formed integrally with the bars by cutting two parallel upright slits in each bar and raising or bending up the metal between the slits to produce the loops. This forms a very simple and inexpensive connection, as the loops are readily stamped in the bars at a single operation by suitable dies. The ends of the intermediate binding wire and top wire of the basket are preferably united by brazing, but they maybe connected by any other suitable fastening, if desired.

Hrepresents handles secured to opposite ends of the basket near its top. In the construction shownin the drawings, each of these handles consists of a block of wood secured to the adjacent uprightbars by nails or rivets, but they may be of any other desired construction.

The bars forming the body of the basket are preferably constructed of hoop iron of the desired width, the bars being cut into proper lengths from a continuous piece of such iron, which renders their cost very small. I

In constructing the basket, the upright bars, after being cut into proper lengths, are formed by suitable dies with the bottom indentations and the loops for the intermediate binding wire, and their upper ends are bent outward at an angle, but not clinched, preparatory to receiving the top wire of the basket. The bars forming the body are next strung side by side upon the intermediate wire by means of their loops, after which the ends of this wire are united. The bars so connected are next placed in an inverted position upon a form having the contour of the finished basket and the top wire, after uniting its ends, is then stripped over the bars until it bears against the under side of the angular upper portions of the bars, when the latter are bent or clinched around the top wire to confine the same in place, as shown in the drawings. The body is now removed from the form and the bottom is forced into the indentations of the bars, as hereinbefore' described, after which the lower binding strip 01 is applied and the handles are secured to the basket.

If desired, the loops or eyes of the upright bars which receive the intermediate binding wire may be constructed in the form of tongues or lips t which are bent around said wire, as shown in Fig. 4. These lips may be stamped integrally with the bars, as shown.

As the body of the basket is constructed of wire and hoop iron, it is not only very strong and durable, but comparatively light, and as the bottom-seats and the attachments of the intermediate and top wires are formed integrally with the hoop-iron body-bars, the cost of the parts is reduced to a minimum. The

ready assemblage of the parts of the basket, per'mittedby the absence of separate fastenings, effects a material saving of labor and further reduces its cost of production.

My improved basket, while especially desirable as a display or deliverybasket, is equally serviceable in factories and other establishments requiring light and durable receptacles which are subjected to rough usage.

I claim as .my invention- 1. The combination with the upright metallic bars of the basket having indentations on the inner side of their lower portions, of a separate bottom seated with its edge in said indentations, and a concave binding strip surrounding said bars and bearing with its concave side against the portions of the bars op-' posite their indentations, substantially as set forth.

2. In a metallic basket, the combination with the bottom, and the top wire or band,'of upright metallic side bars extending from the bottom to the top wire and having their upper ends bent around the top wire, each of said bars being provided about midway of its height with a pair of upright slits and having the metal between such slits raised to form eyes or loops, and an intermediate binding wireencircling thebasketandpassingthrough said eyes or loops, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the upright metallic bars provided at their upper ends with eyes, at their lower ends with seats or indentations and between said eyes and indentations with loops, all formed integrally with the bars, of a top wire passing through the eyes of the metallic bars, a separate bottom confined in the indentations of said bars, and an intermediate binding wire passing through the loops thereof, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 31st day of July, 1893.

- LEON M. CABANA.

Witnesses:

CARL F. GEYER, JNo. J. BONNER. 

